Wall sander



P 6, 1950 H. R. SWENSON 2,523,884

WALL SANDER Filed July 24, 1946 Patented Sept. 26, 1950 UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE 4 Claims.

This invention relates to a combination wall scraper and sander,especially designed to facilitate removal of wall paper from walls andto make it easier to smoothen whatever rough spots there may be bysanding the same.

The principal object of my invention is to provide a hand tool of thekind mentioned consisting of a blade carrying a head on the end of ahandle of suitable length, the head being so designed in relation to thespring Wire frame or yoke of a sander attachment that the sander may bequickly and easily assembled on the head without disturbing the blade,and, after use, may be as easily and quickly removed, thus giving thedecorator a two-in-one tool which is handy to 'use and handy to storeaway in his kit to carry from job to job. The handle length may bequickly and easily increased by the application of an extension handleso that in most cases all of the work can be done from the floor and thestep ladder or scaffold will not be needed under average workingconditions. The sander attachment is designed for quick and easyapplication to the head, so that there is no necessity for removing thescraping blade, and so that an area on the wall or ceiling from whichpaper has been scraped can be easily sanded smooth, using the samelength handle, the sander block being pivoted on the attachment on ahorizontal axis in such close proximity to the working edge of the bladethat'it can be operated with the same handle length without anyawkwardness.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Fig.1 is a front view of the combination tool of my invention showing thesander attachment to the scraper and ready for use, and

, Fig. 2 is a side view of Fig. 1. a

The same reference numerals are applied to corresponding parts in thesetwo views.

The reference numeral 3 designates the head which is herein shown asmade of wood or plastic material and tapered rearwardly to provide asubstantially cylindrical shank portion 4 which may have an elongatedhandle of the same diameter integral therewith or suitably securedthereto. When the handle is an integral extension of the shank 4provision may be made for the attachment to the outer end thereof of aneX- tension handle, and where the handle is attached to the shank 4,handles of different lengths may be provided for attachment thereto sothat the decorator may reach a good portion of the wall from the floorwith one handle length and do the rest of the job with a longer handlelength.

While a one-piece head 3 of wood or plastic construction is shown, itshould be understood that I may provide a head of two-piece stampedsheet metal construction divided in the plane ab in Fig. 2, whichincludes the axis of the handle and shank portion 4, the shank portionsof the stampings being semi-circular in cross-section and the outer endportions being of channel-shaped crosssection, the flanges defining theside edge portions of the stampings having abutment in the plane wb intostampings being riveted or otherwise suitably secured together. Bysuitable ribbing, the stampings may be given the desired stiff ness eventhough sheet metal of light gauge is used. The head 3 is slotted at itsouter end in the plane a-b as indicated at 5, to accommodate the buttportion 6 of the steel scraping blade I. Ferrules 8 are set in recesses9 in the head 3 and have tubular shank portions Ill which extend throughelongated parallel slot l I provided in the butt portion 6 of the bladewhereby to permit in and out adjustment of the blad 1 before the screws12 that are threaded into the shanks I 0 of the ferrules 8 from theother side 3 are tightened. A sharp beveled edge i3 is provided on theouter end of the blade 1 preferably on the skiving angle illustrated inFig. 1, because I have found that this gives a much better scrapingaction and enables doing the work a lot faster than where the cuttingedge is at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the head 3 andhandle and shank It will now be observed that the blade l is slightlynarrower than the head 3 and that the head has longitudinally extendinggrooves Hi in the edge portions l5 that project laterally beyond thelateral edges of the blade I. These grooves accommodate the arms 16 andH of a U-shaped spring wire frame or yoke l8 that is provided forsupport of the sander, indicated at I9. The arms [6 and I! have inwardlybent end portions 20 and 2| that are adapted to be entered in holes 22and 23 provided in the head 3 at the inner ends of the grooves I l. Theend 20 is somewhat longer than the end 2! and will be entered in thehole 22 first so that it will not require as much spreading of the armsIt and I! to enter the end 2! in the hole 23. As soon as the end 2! isbrought into alignment with the hole 23, the arm ll snaps into place inthe groove l4 and the frame i8 is thereafter rigid with the head 3 andis fastened tightly enough and securely enough to eliminate anylikelihood of its coming oif. If the frame or yoke I8 fits too looselyin the grooves 54, the screws l2 can be tightened so as to contract theslotted portion 5 of the head 3 enough to take up the play in thegrooves l4 and thus make the frame reasonably rigid. The screws I2 andferrules 8 being in close proximity to the grooves I4, as shown in Fig.l, are located to best advantage from that standpoint. Of course, if thetool has been in use for a long time and the grooves I4 have becomeworn, the workman may find it advisable to remove the scraper blade 1 inorder to clamp the frame l8 securely. A small loop 24 is formed in theinner end portion of the arm I! into which a nail or screw driver bit orputty knife blade may be entered to pry the end 2| loose when it isdesired to remove the sander attachment. The cross-portion 25 of thefram or yoke I8 is disposed in closely spaced relation to the knife edgel3 so that there is no likelihood of this sharpened edge being damagedin the operation of the sander, and yet the workman can use the sanderat the same handle length as the scraping blade in working on a certainarea on the wall or ceiling, without any awkwardness.

The sander l9 may be of any suitable or preferred construction and isherein disclosed as consisting of a rectangular block 26 having atransverse groove 21 in the middle of the bottom into which a bearingplate 28 is fitted having a channel in the middle thereof to receive thecross-portion 25 of the frame [8, another plate 29 being provided toconfine the wire 25 in the groove in the plate 28 and the two platesbeing fastened, as by means of screws 30 to the block 26. Any suitablenumber of sheets of sand paper 3! can be applied to the block 26covering the outer face 32 and folded inwardly against the back of theblock where retainer plates 33 that are fastened by swing nuts 34threaded on screw 35 that project from the back of the block 26 serve toclamp the ends of the sheets of sand paper securely enough so that whenone sheet becomes worn smooth, it can be torn off to expose the nextsheet therebeneath, without the necessity of bothering to loosen andretighten the clamping plates 33. Obviously, the fact that the block 26is free to oscillate with respect to the cross-portion 25 of the frameI8 enables sanding the wall or ceiling from any angle. The decorator canapply the desired pressure to the block 26 by bearing against thehandle, and I have found that the slight roughnesses encountered in thiskind of work can be quickly and. easily smoothed off with thisattachment and a lot of time and expense is saved in doing the work thisway.

It is believed the foregoing description conveys a good understanding ofthe objects and advantages of my invention. The appended claims havebeen drawn to cover all legitimat modifications and adaptations.

I claim:

1. In a wall sanding device, the combination of a rectangular blockhaving a transverse bearing means on the back of the block, a sheet ofabrasive material fastened on the face of said block, a generallyU-shaped yoke having its crossportion mounted in said bearing means andhaving the substantially parallel side arms of the yoke extending awayfrom the block, said side arms being elongated and having a shortportion of the free ends thereof bent inwardly, a handle member having aportion approximately as wide as said yoke, said handle portion having alongitudinally split portion transversely thereof and side grooves andapertures for receiving the free end portions of the side arms of theyoke and the inwardly bent end portions thereof, and means for drawingthe split portions of the handle together to clamp said yoke in saidhandle.

2. In a wall sanding device, the combination of a rectangular blockhaving a transverse bearing means on the back of the block, a sheet ofabrasive material fastened on the face of said block, a generallyU-shaped yoke having its crossportion mounted in said bearing means andhaving the substantially parallel side arms of the yoke extending awayfrom the block, said side arms being elongated and having a shortportion of the free ends thereof bent inwardly, a handle member having aportion approximately as wide as said yoke, said handle portion having alongitudinally split portion transversely thereof and side grooves andapertures for receiving the free end portions of the side arms of theyoke and the inwardly bent end portions thereof, and means for drawingthe split portions of the handle together to clamp said yoke in saidhandle, said means comprising screws and screw threaded elements inwhich the screws are threaded extending through the split portion of thehandle in closely spaced relation to the grooved sides thereof.

3. In a wall sanding device, the combination of a rectangular blockhaving a transverse bearing means on the back of the block, a sheet ofabrasive material fastened on the face of said block, a generallyU-shaped yoke having its crossportion mounted in said bearing means andhaving the substantially parallel side arms of the yoke extending awayfrom the block, said side arms being elongated and having a shortportion of the free ends thereof bent inwardly, a handle member having aportion approximately as wide as said yoke, said handle portion having alongitudinally split portion transversely thereof and side grooves andapertures for receiving th free end portions of the side arms of theyoke and the inwardly bent end portions thereof, and means for drawingthe split portions of the handle together to clamp said yoke in saidhandle, at least one of the side arms of said U-shaped yoke having anoutwardly bent loop portion near the inwardly bent end portion adaptedfor entry of a prying tool to permit flexing said arm away from thehandle to disengage it.

4. In a hand operable tool of the character described, comprising anelongated handle having a generally rectangular head on the outer end,said head having a longitudinally split portion transversely of theouter end thereof adapted to be compressed to clamp the butt portion ofa scraping blade therein, a scraping blade having the butt portionentered in the split portion of said head, and means for drawing thesplit portions of said head together to clamp the butt portion of saidblade removably and adjustably, the improvement which consists in theprovision in the opposite sides of said head of grooves in coplanarrelationship to and opening into the split portion of the head so as tobe varied in width when the means for drawing the split portions of saidhead together is operated, a generally U-shaped yoke havingsubstantially parallel elongated side arms entered in said grooves, eachof the side arms having a short portion of the free ends thereof bentinwardly, and said head having apertures provided therein at the innerends of the grooves behind the split portion of the head arranged toreceive these inwardly bent portions to retain the yoke against outwarddisplacement from the head, and a block 5 oscillatably mounted on thecross-portion of said Number yoke and adapted to carry means for rubbinga 619,941 flat surface to be worked. 701,503 HJALMER R. SWENSON. 846,6655 1,484,166 REFERENCES CITED 2 400 929 The following references are ofrecord in the 2,434,581 file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 10 Number Number Name Date 25,613 485,923 GageNov. 8, 1892 582,329 579,966 Dunn Apr. 6, 1897 Name Date Cochrun Feb.21, 1899 Plummer June 3, 1902 Hames Mar. 12, 1907 Walk Feb. 19, 1924Hein May 28, 1946 Ottoson Jan. 13, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS Country DateNetherlands Apr. 2, 1930 Germany July 16, 1931

